“There is a big difference between telling people what their rights are and actually making sure that the people around that person accept that those rights exist and should not be infringed upon,” said Vuyokazi Hlwatika, current chairperson of Amnesty International Stellenbosch at a panel discussion hosted by LesBiGay and Amnesty International Stellenbosch.
Human dignity and the rights of queer people was the overreaching and prominent theme at this panel discussion held on Thursday evening at Huis Russel Botman.
The panel consisted of individuals on campus who all contribute to the queer community in Stellenbosch. These included the likes of Anthony Andrews, Stellenbosch LLB student, 2017/2018 speaker and chair of Student Parliament at SU, Elana Ryklief, who is a transwoman and student intern at the Global Education Centre (GEC) at SU, Tian Du Pisani, a disabled member of the LesBiGay society committee as well as the above mentioned Vuyokazi Hlwatika.
“Regarding the interests and rights of queer people in the country, I don’t think there is an active pursuit in the interest of queer people in this town [Stellenbosch],” said panelist Du Pisani.
The aim of the event was for students and individuals around Stellenbosch to engage and reflect on the rights of the LGBTQI+ community in the town as well as creating a space where one demonstrates how Stellenbosch is a deeply divided space. Debates around protecting and promoting the rights of queer people in Stellenbosch and surrounding areas were also critically engaged on.
Panellists from (left to right) Elana Ryklief, Vuyokazi Hlwatika, Anthony Andrews and Tian Du Pisani discuss the importance of the basic human rights of queer people in Stellenbosch and in broader South Africa. PHOTO: Caira Blignaut
“I don’t think there is enough representation at all, unless you’ve got your ear on the ground on what is happening and what these functions are,” said Charissa Barden (22), a Master of Law student. “There are very few platforms that are openly showing what the issues are that certain communities are facing on campus.”
Panellists raised issues varying from gender neutral bathrooms, the spaces that queer people occupy and represent on campus, race, sex and sexual identities, the language used around and in the LGBTQI+ community, same sex marriage and the role that the media plays in the the representation of the queer community.
The constitution of South Africa was also a very conspicuous topic of the evening. Panelists made note of the fact that there are no laws that exist for discrimination and that this can become particularly dangerous especially for the queer community.
Ryklief stressed that this problem needs to be interrogated as nothing that violates a queer individual is properly punishable.
“Society needs to respect, not just tolerate, people who fall under the LGBTQI+ umbrella,” said Ryklief. “They also need to have discourses around their legislation. We need to exist in equity not equality.”